Reading a doctor's handwriting is not mentally challenging enough?

They don't even get to do that anymore. It's all electronic.

How to deal with the narcissist at work.

In a nutshell, stroke their ego all the time. Especially just before you ask for something.

I prefer the shattering of, as opposed to the stroking of egos.

'Smore fun for me.

I have learned that my immediate supervisor spent many years as a manager at Vector Marketing.

Be careful, he's probably got a knife or two. ;)

creepy shit

this guy is describing my counterpart at work. The bit about responding immediately to texts and emails jumped out at me.

Last year, while I was on vacation, I got a text from him with a question about how to do the tax on a lease for a Virginia customer. The text, and subsequent voice mail both started with, "put on your thinking cap..." It irked me that he bothered me with that kind of thing. And the way the text and voice mail were pretty much identical made it sound contrived. Like he was purposefully trying to intrude on my down time with something I had no way of actually helping him with.

Needless to say, I didn't reply at all to either. I don't WANT to put my fucking thinking cap on while I'm on vacation. That's the point of vacation.

He didn't talk to me for like 3 weeks when I got back, and I finally had to lock him in a room and make it clear that he doesn't have the right to question my dedication to my job. And that I saw clearly through his attempt to control me. It got heated.

The praise thing absolutely works, btw. I hate doing it though. I will have my new assistant read this. She's having a hard time understanding why he's such a dick to everyone.

thanks g

This Hacker News thread and the first comment and replies are exactly how I feel right now

Puttin' it here for posterity.

That's so true. I'm the most productive when sitting in a coffee or bar with just the right amount of noise and people. What I hate though is if people stare on my screen, hence I'm always looking out for a corner spot.

It's hard to concentrate on work when you have to scratch your nuts surreptitiously. :yesnod:

corrosive

An interesting corollary: I can't focus on anything significant if my kids are in the house at all. Even if they're silent and upstairs behind closed doors, there's the nagging awareness that at any moment one of them could interrupt me with anything from a flooded toilet to a broken bone to a stupid YouTube video they want me to see.

it came out yesterday that the big boss is hyper-sensitive to voices and can't even tolerate speech while driving.

Hence why he shuts the door "with purpose" whenever the office gets talky; hence why he BLASTS electronic dance music (techno, with no words) from time to time (without respect for the rest of us)

But also, imagine the lack of empathy in creating an office where he, himself, could not possibly be productive; where everyone else MUST NOT be like him, for his benefit.

It's good to be the King.